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History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy

Page 2

by Niccolo Machiavelli

his political idea of the state. Much that Machiavelli says in this

  treatise is as true to-day and holds as good as the day it was

  written. And to us there is much that is of especial importance. To

  select a chapter almost at random, let us take Book I., Chap. XV.:

  "Public affairs are easily managed in a city where the body of the

  people is not corrupt; and where equality exists, there no

  principality can be established; nor can a republic be established

  where there is no equality."

  No man has been more harshly judged than Machiavelli, especially in

  the two centuries following his death. But he has since found many

  able champions and the tide has turned. /The Prince/ has been termed a

  manual for tyrants, the effect of which has been most pernicious. But

  were Machiavelli's doctrines really new? Did he discover them? He

  merely had the candor and courage to write down what everybody was

  thinking and what everybody knew. He merely gives us the impressions

  he had received from a long and intimate intercourse with princes and

  the affairs of state. It was Lord Bacon, I believe, who said that

  Machiavelli tells us what princes do, not what they ought to do. When

  Machiavelli takes C�sar Borgia as a model, he in nowise extols him as

  a hero, but merely as a prince who was capable of attaining the end in

  view. The life of the State was the primary object. It must be

  maintained. And Machiavelli has laid down the principles, based upon

  his study and wide experience, by which this may be accomplished. He

  wrote from the view-point of the politician,--not of the moralist.

  What is good politics may be bad morals, and in fact, by a strange

  fatality, where morals and politics clash, the latter generally gets

  the upper hand. And will anyone contend that the principles set forth

  by Machiavelli in his /Prince/ or his /Discourses/ have entirely

  perished from the earth? Has diplomacy been entirely stripped of fraud

  and duplicity? Let anyone read the famous eighteenth chapter of /The

  Prince/: "In what Manner Princes should keep their Faith," and he will

  be convinced that what was true nearly four hundred years ago, is

  quite as true to-day.

  Of the remaining works of Machiavelli the most important is the

  /History of Florence/ written between 1521 and 1525, and dedicated to

  Clement VII. The first book is merely a rapid review of the Middle

  Ages, the history of Florence beginning with Book II. Machiavelli's

  method has been censured for adhering at times too closely to the

  chroniclers like Villani, Cambi, and Giovanni Cavalcanti, and at

  others rejecting their testimony without apparent reason, while in its

  details the authority of his /History/ is often questionable. It is

  the straightforward, logical narrative, which always holds the

  interest of the reader that is the greatest charm of the /History/.

  Of the other works of Machiavelli we may mention here his comedies the

  /Mandragola/ and /Clizia/, and his novel /Belfagor/.

  After the downfall of the Republic and Machiavelli's release from

  prison in 1513, fortune seems never again to have favoured him. It is

  true that in 1520 Giuliano de' Medici commissioned him to write his

  /History of Florence/, and he afterwards held a number of offices, yet

  these latter were entirely beneath his merits. He had been married in

  1502 to Marietta Corsini, who bore him four sons and a daughter. He

  died on June 22, 1527, leaving his family in the greatest poverty, a

  sterling tribute to his honesty, when one considers the many

  opportunities he doubtless had to enrich himself. Machiavelli's life

  was not without blemish--few lives are. We must bear in mind the

  atmosphere of craft, hypocrisy, and poison in which he lived,--his was

  the age of C�sar Borgia and of Popes like the monster Alexander VI.

  and Julius II. Whatever his faults may have been, Machiavelli was

  always an ardent patriot and an earnest supporter of popular

  government. It is true that he was willing to accept a prince, if one

  could be found courageous enough and prudent enough to unite

  dismembered Italy, for in the unity of his native land he saw the only

  hope of its salvation.

  Machiavelli is buried in the church of Santa Croce at Florence, beside

  the tomb of Michael Angelo. His monument bears this inscription:

  "Tanto nomini nullum par eulogium."

  And though this praise is doubtless exaggerated, he is a son of whom

  his country may be justly proud.

  Hugo Albert Rennert.

  [*] Villari, /Niccolo Machiavelli e i suoi tempi/, 2d ed. Milan,

  1895-97, the best work on the subject. The most complete

  bibliography of Machiavelli up to 1858 is to be found in Mohl,

  /Gesch. u. Liter. der Staatswissenshaften/, Erlangen, 1855, III.,

  521-91. See also /La Vita e gli scritti di Niccolo Machiavelli

  nella loro Relazione col Machiavellismo/, by O. Tommasini, Turin,

  1883 (unfinished).

  The best English translation of Machiavelli with which I am

  acquainted is: The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic writings

  of Niccolo Machiavelli, translated by Christian E. Detmold. Osgood

  & Co., Boston, 1882, 4 vols. 8vo.

  THE

  FLORENTINE HISTORY OF

  NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

  BOOK I

  CHAPTER I

  Irruption of Northern people upon the Roman territories--Visigoths

  --Barbarians called in by Stilicho--Vandals in Africa--Franks and

  Burgundians give their names to France and Burgundy--The Huns--

  Angles give the name to England--Attila, king of the Huns, in

  Italy--Genseric takes Rome--The Lombards.

  The people who inhabit the northern parts beyond the Rhine and the

  Danube, living in a healthy and prolific region, frequently increase

  to such vast multitudes that part of them are compelled to abandon

  their native soil, and seek a habitation in other countries. The

  method adopted, when one of these provinces had to be relieved of its

  superabundant population, was to divide into three parts, each

  containing an equal number of nobles and of people, of rich and of

  poor. The third upon whom the lot fell, then went in search of new

  abodes, leaving the remaining two-thirds in possession of their native

  country.

  These migrating masses destroyed the Roman empire by the facilities

  for settlement which the country offered when the emperors abandoned

  Rome, the ancient seat of their dominion, and fixed their residence at

  Constantinople; for by this step they exposed the western empire to

  the rapine of both their ministers and their enemies, the remoteness

  of their position preventing them either from seeing or providing for

  its necessities. To suffer the overthrow of such an extensive empire,

  established by the blood of so many brave and virtuous men, showed no

  less folly in the princes themselves than infidelity in their

  ministers; for not one irruption alone, but many, contributed to its

  ruin; and these barbarians exhibited much ability and perseverance in

  accomplishing their object.

  The first of these nort
hern nations that invaded the empire after the

  Cimbrians, who were conquered by Caius Marius, was the Visigoths--

  which name in our language signifies "Western Goths." These, after

  some battles fought along its confines, long held their seat of

  dominion upon the Danube, with consent of the emperors; and although,

  moved by various causes, they often attacked the Roman provinces, were

  always kept in subjection by the imperial forces. The emperor

  Theodosius conquered them with great glory; and, being wholly reduced

  to his power, they no longer selected a sovereign of their own, but,

  satisfied with the terms which he granted them, lived and fought under

  his ensigns, and authority. On the death of Theodosius, his sons

  Arcadius and Honorius, succeeded to the empire, but not to the talents

  and fortune of their father; and the times became changed with the

  princes. Theodosius had appointed a governor to each of the three

  divisions of the empire, Ruffinus to the eastern, to the western

  Stilicho, and Gildo to the African. Each of these, after the death of

  Theodosius, determined not to be governors merely, but to assume

  sovereign dominion over their respective provinces. Gildo and Ruffinus

  were suppressed at their outset; but Stilicho, concealing his design,

  ingratiated himself with the new emperors, and at the same time so

  disturbed their government, as to facilitate his occupation of it

  afterward. To make the Visigoths their enemies, he advised that the

  accustomed stipend allowed to this people should be withheld; and as

  he thought these enemies would not be sufficient alone to disturb the

  empire, he contrived that the Burgundians, Franks, Vandals, and Alans

  (a northern people in search of new habitations), should assail the

  Roman provinces.

  That they might be better able to avenge themselves for the injury

  they had sustained, the Visigoths, on being deprived of their subsidy,

  created Alaric their king; and having assailed the empire, succeeded,

  after many reverses, in overrunning Italy, and finally in pillaging

  Rome.

  After this victory, Alaric died, and his successor, Astolphus, having

  married Placidia, sister of the emperors, agreed with them to go to

  the relief of Gaul and Spain, which provinces had been assailed by the

  Vandals, Burgundians, Alans, and Franks, from the causes before

  mentioned. Hence it followed, that the Vandals, who had occupied that

  part of Spain called Betica (now Andalusia), being pressed by the

  Visigoths, and unable to resist them, were invited by Boniface, who

  governed Africa for the empire, to occupy that province; for, being in

  rebellion, he was afraid his error would become known to the emperor.

  For these reasons the Vandals gladly undertook the enterprise, and

  under Genseric, their king, became lords of Africa.

  At this time Theodosius, son of Arcadius, succeeded to the empire;

  and, bestowing little attention on the affairs of the west, caused

  those who had taken possession to think of securing their

  acquisitions. Thus the Vandals ruled Africa; the Alans and Visigoths,

  Spain; while the Franks and Burgundians not only took Gaul, but each

  gave their name to the part they occupied; hence one is called France,

  the other Burgundy. The good fortune of these brought fresh people to

  the destruction of the empire, one of which, the Huns, occupied the

  province of Pannonia, situated upon the nearer shore of the Danube,

  and which, from their name, is still called Hungary. To these

  disorders it must be added, that the emperor, seeing himself attacked

  on so many sides, to lessen the number of his enemies, began to treat

  first with the Vandals, then with the Franks; a course which

  diminished his own power, and increased that of the barbarians. Nor

  was the island of Britain, which is now called England, secure from

  them; for the Britons, being apprehensive of those who had occupied

  Gaul, called the Angli, a people of Germany, to their aid; and these

  under Vortigern their king, first defended, and then drove them from

  the island, of which they took possession, and after themselves named

  the country England. But the inhabitants, being robbed of their home,

  became desperate by necessity and resolved to take possession of some

  other country, although they had been unable to defend their own. They

  therefore crossed the sea with their families, and settled in the

  country nearest to the beach, which from themselves is called

  Brittany. The Huns, who were said above to have occupied Pannonia,

  joining with other nations, as the Zepidi, Eurili, Turingi, and Ostro,

  or eastern Goths, moved in search of new countries, and not being able

  to enter France, which was defended by the forces of the barbarians,

  came into Italy under Attila their king. He, a short time previously,

  in order to possess the entire monarchy, had murdered his brother

  Bleda; and having thus become very powerful, Andaric, king of the

  Zepidi, and Velamir, king of the Ostrogoths, became subject to him.

  Attila, having entered Italy, laid siege to Aquileia, where he

  remained without any obstacle for two years, wasting the country

  round, and dispersing the inhabitants. This, as will be related in its

  place, caused the origin of Venice. After the taking and ruin of

  Aquileia, he directed his course towards Rome, from the destruction of

  which he abstained at the entreaty of the pontiff, his respect for

  whom was so great that he left Italy and retired into Austria, where

  he died. After the death of Attila, Velamir, king of the Ostrogoths,

  and the heads of the other nations, took arms against his sons Henry

  and Uric, slew the one and compelled the other, with his Huns, to

  repass the Danube and return to their country; while the Ostrogoths

  and the Zepidi established themselves in Pannonia, and the Eruli and

  the Turingi upon the farther bank of the Danube.

  Attila having left Italy, Valentinian, emperor of the west, thought of

  restoring the country; and, that he might be more ready to defend it

  against the barbarians, abandoned Rome, and removed the seat of

  government to Ravenna. The misfortunes which befell the western empire

  caused the emperor, who resided at Constantinople, on many occasions

  to give up the possession of it to others, as a charge full of danger

  and expense; and sometimes, without his permission, the Romans, seeing

  themselves so abandoned, created an emperor for their defense, or

  suffered some one to usurp the dominion. This occurred at the period

  of which we now speak, when Maximus, a Roman, after the death of

  Valentinian, seized the government, and compelled Eudocia, widow of

  the late emperor, to take him for her husband; but she, being of

  imperial blood, scorned the connection of a private citizen; and being

  anxious to avenge herself for the insult, secretly persuaded Genseric,

  king of the Vandals and master of Africa to come to Italy,

  representing to him the advantage he would derive from the

  undertaking, and the facility with which it might be accomplished.

  Tempted by the hope of booty, he came immediate
ly, and finding Rome

  abandoned, plundered the city during fourteen days. He also ravaged

  many other places in Italy, and then, loaded with wealth, withdrew to

  Africa. The Romans, having returned to their city, and Maximus being

  dead, elected Avitus, a Roman, as his successor. After this, several

  important events occurred both in Italy and in the countries beyond;

  and after the deaths of many emperors the empire of Constantinople

  devolved upon Zeno, and that of Rome upon Orestes and Augustulus his

  son, who obtained the sovereignty by fraud. While they were designing

  to hold by force what they had obtained by treachery, the Eruli and

  the Turingi, who, after the death of Attila, as before remarked, had

  established themselves upon the farther bank of the Danube, united in

  a league and invaded Italy under Odoacer their general. Into the

  districts which they left unoccupied, the Longobardi or Lombards, also

  a northern people, entered, led by Godogo their king. Odoacer

  conquered and slew Orestes near Pavia, but Augustulus escaped. After

  this victory, that Rome might, with her change of power, also change

  her title, Odoacer, instead of using the imperial name, caused himself

  to be declared king of Rome. He was the first of those leaders who at

  this period overran the world and thought of settling in Italy; for

  the others, either from fear that they should not be able to hold the

  country, knowing that it might easily be relieved by the eastern

  emperors, or from some unknown cause, after plundering her, sought

  other countries wherein to establish themselves.

  CHAPTER II

  State of the Roman empire under Zeno--Theodoric king of the

  Ostrogoths--Character of Theodoric--Changes in the Roman empire--

  New languages--New names--Theodoric dies--Belisarius in Italy--

  Totila takes Rome--Narses destroys the Goths--New form of

  Government in Italy--Narses invites the Lombards into Italy--The

  Lombards change the form of government.

  At this time the ancient Roman empire was governed by the following

  princes: Zeno, reigning in Constantinople, commanded the whole of the

  eastern empire; the Ostrogoths ruled Mesia and Pannonia; the

  Visigoths, Suavi, and Alans, held Gascony and Spain; the Vandals,

  Africa; the Franks and Burgundians, France; and the Eruli and Turingi,

  Italy. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths had descended to Theodoric,

  nephew of Velamir, who, being on terms of friendship with Zeno the

  eastern emperor, wrote to him that his Ostrogoths thought it an

  injustice that they, being superior in valor to the people thereabout,

  should be inferior to them in dominion, and that it was impossible for

  him to restrain them within the limits of Pannonia. So, seeing himself

  under the necessity of allowing them to take arms and go in search of

  new abodes, he wished first to acquaint Zeno with it, in order that he

  might provide for them, by granting some country in which they might

  establish themselves, by his good favor with greater propriety and

  convenience. Zeno, partly from fear and partly from a desire to drive

  Odoacer out of Italy, gave Theodoric permission to lead his people

  against him, and take possession of the country. Leaving his friends

  the Zepidi in Pannonia, Theodoric marched into Italy, slew Odoacer and

  his son, and, moved by the same reasons which had induced Valentinian

  to do so, established his court at Ravenna, and like Odoacer took the

  title of king of Italy.

  Theodoric possessed great talents both for war and peace; in the

  former he was always conqueror, and in the latter he conferred very

  great benefits upon the cities and people under him. He distributed

  the Ostrogoths over the country, each district under its leader, that

  he might more conveniently command them in war, and govern them in

  peace. He enlarged Ravenna, restored Rome, and, with the exception of

  military discipline, conferred upon the Romans every honor. He kept

 

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